Passing the time at ShinRa
by Witka
Summary: A little Cid and Sephiroth that my muse send me awhile ago.
1. Default Chapter

I don't own Final Fantasy 7 or any of the characters et al there in. I'm just playing with them for my own twisted amusement, and hopefully yours as well. ^^ This idea came from a friend who was trying to think of really unique pairings and CidxSephiroth was about as unique as it got. So be sure to give me lots of feedback on what you think of it. I'm kinda stuck so feedback will help me finish it!  
  
^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^  
  
Shin-Ra's Midgar headquarters was always a hustle and bustle of activity. Office workers, scientist and bureaucrats all came and went at any given time. Sephiroth frankly found coming to the HQ distasteful and avoided it as best he could. After all there were only so many times one could be hit on by overeager secretaries before wanting to commit mass murder. Though he had been promised that this was going to be a quick trip, reporting the current condition of the soldiers to the President and a check up with Professor Hojo and then he was supposed to be out of here.  
  
Of course Hojo's idea of a short visit and everyone else's idea of a short visit were vastly different.  
  
He paced the tiny waiting room, willfully ignoring the President's drooling secretary whose eyes seemed glued to his partially bared chest. Eventually he stopped pacing and settled for looking out one the windows (therefore giving the secretary a lovely view of his ass, which resulted in yet more drool). The window was high enough up that whoever looked out of it had a nice view of prosperous Upper Midgar, conspicuously hiding the slums beneath the plates of Midgar. After all why would they want to remember the toiling masses forced to live in darkness while they ran around in the sunlight?  
  
Sephiroth heard the door of the office open, and purely out of curiosity turned to see who was exiting the President's office. He saw the fat form of Palmer waddle out, talking with the President, an idiotic smile plastered on his florid face. But what really drew his attention was the man following both of them. He was younger than both Palmer and the President by at least ten years if not more. He was wearing an ill-fitting suit, which he was obviously not comfortable in. His posture was somewhat slouched, hand shoved in the pockets of the suit jacket. The pale blonde hair was messy, though a valiant effort had been made to tame it. The man's face was rather handsome, with solid features, and a somewhat square jaw, which had a five o'clock shadow, despite the face that the man had obviously shaved that morning. Sephiroth instantly like the man, and he didn't even know his name.  
  
However his scrutiny hadn't gone unnoticed, as was evident when he was confronted with the combined bulk of both Palmer and the President standing in front of him. He managed to mask his distaste easily from the years of practice he'd had. He nodded respectfully to the President, however he didn't offer a nod to Palmer. "General Sephiroth, I'm glad to see you! You've met Palmer before haven't you? He's the head of our Aeronautics division." Sephiroth nodded, managing to make it look like he was interested in the conversation, again from years of practice. "He and his young engineer, Mr. Highwind here," a negligent hand waved to the younger man in the suit, "have just come to me with an interesting proposal. Very interesting indeed." Here the President trailed off, visions of dollars signs dancing in his head no doubt.  
  
Sephiroth took the President's distraction as a chance to take another look at the young engineer, only to find himself facing a pair of sharp blue eyes. He tilted his head to the side, the long platinum hair swaying slightly, cool green eyes returning the gaze steadily for a moment. For a perverse reason he was glad that the other man didn't flinch and look away as so many did. Obviously Highwind was not a pushover, or another disgusting sycophant trying to move up the social ladder by sucking up to any ShinRa official that came into reach.  
  
After a moment ShinRa shook himself, turning to Sephiroth with an oily smile on his face. "Go on into my office, I'll be in just a minute." Sephiroth turned his green eyes to the President again, inclining his head in acknowledgement of the orders before turning to face the open doors. He strode through them, his boots thudding dully on the highly polished tiles. He gave Highwind a final sideways glance before he entered the office and sat down in one of the armchairs. Distantly he could hear the President and Palmer continuing discussion of whatever great idea Palmer had proposed, though their voices grew fainter as they moved off toward the elevator.  
  
Settling himself down to wait for the President, he half hoped his meeting would go on long enough for him to escape his 'visit' with Hojo. 


	2. Chapter 2

It was several months before Sephiroth was forced to report back to Headquarters. He never failed to marvel at how life inside the monumental building never seemed to change. Sure the cut of the numerous suits and the hairstyles change, but the general routine was always the same. He was almost certain he could step into the building years after his last visit and still see the same people doing the exact same things that they were doing today. He thought it must have be a sad existence, to get up everyday and do the same thing for the rest of you life, no variety, nothing exciting to break the endless monotony.  
  
He shuddered at the thought as he strode to the glass elevator. He'd kill himself before he let himself get caught in this kind of endless drudgery. He swiped his card through the card reader so he could access the top levels of the building. With well practiced stoicism he ignore the not- quite-hushed whispers of the various gaggles of secretaries that looked at him then looked away and giggled. And some people honestly wondered why he didn't date.  
  
A new secretary was in the waiting room, though you never could have told from the rapidly forming puddle of drool forming under her. Honestly he didn't know what was so appealing about his chest in the first place. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the wall, his head bowed so that the long silver bangs obscured his face. He didn't look up until he heard the outer office door open and then shut. Out of curiosity he glanced up, only to see Highwind, looking as uncomfortable as ever walk through the doors. Again he was dressed in the ill-fitting suit, which he was so evidently uncomfortable in. Highwind was not a suit man like Palmer was, he struck Sephiroth as the type of man to be out in the field, getting his hands dirty, not sitting in an office and politicking.  
  
He new the moment Highwind realized he was there, not that he'd been trying to hide himself. Hell, it wasn't like he could hide himself, at least not effectively anyway. He was however quite surprised when he saw the engineer walking over and taking a seat next to him. Usually the only people who tried to get close to him were hormonal women. There was silence between the two men, though it wasn't a heavy silence as one might expect. Instead it was easy, almost friendly silence as the two seemed to almost have an understanding in their mutual dislike of offices.  
  
"Cid." It was so abrupt that Sephiroth blinked stupidly for a moment before turning to look at the blonde man he quirked an elegant blonde eyebrow in question, his features remaining otherwise impassive. "My name, its Cid. Palmer kind of overlooked it the last time we met."  
  
Sephiroth nodded, a smile twitching at the edge of his full lips. "Palmer's like that, he only remembers the things that will advance him." Which was true, Palmer was nothing but a sycophant with a natural talent for taking the credit for other people's hard work. He didn't even have the occasional flash of brilliance that Heideggar sometimes got, or the technical know how and assets that Scarlett possessed. That Palmer had become the overseer of any branch of ShinRa was either a miracle or a fluke, and Sephiroth tended to believe it was a fluke of paperwork.  
  
"Don't I know it. Damned bastard took credit for my idea when we pitched it to the President. The man wouldn't know serious aeronautical design if it smacked him in his fat face." The image that accompanied that statement was so funny that Sephiroth had to choke back a laugh, though the usually cool green eyes lit up with amusement. It was refreshing to meet someone who wasn't afraid to speak their mind. Years of being forced to maneuver the political zone that was ShinRa had taught Sephiroth enough discretion to survive.  
  
"So why are you here? Waiting for Palmer to waddle in?" His comment brought a snort of bitter laughter from the other man.  
  
"Well I was supposed to be in on the meeting between Palmer and the President that's taking place now, but after I did my little part I was rather politely told that I wasn't needed and I should go wait outside until they're done." Cid rolled his clear blue eyes in exasperation. "They did just about everything but pat me on my head and tell me to go outside while the grown-ups discussed grown-up stuff."  
  
Sephiroth sighed and patted Cid on the shoulder, his gloved hands looking almost cumbersome as he did it. "Such is the way of ShinRa. Give it some time Highwind, you'll get used to it. Who knows, maybe you'll learn enough to not get politely shoved out the door." The smirk that graced his face took some of the sting out of the words, though not by much.  
  
Cid groaned, hiding his face in his hands before racking them through his hair, which made the short blonde locks go everywhere. "If I ever get like that, I want someone to shoot me so I can be put out of my misery."  
  
Sephiroth chuckled, a deep rumbling sound, which sent the poor secretary into spasms. "I promise Highwind, if you ever start to act like Palmer I'll shoot you myself." Cid grinned a little bit at that, though the expression was quickly erased when the doors to the President's office opened and Palmer came out.  
  
"Ah Sephiroth, getting to know our Mr. Highwind are you? Well I hate to steal him away but we have work to do. Yes, yes, much work, come along Highwind." And with that Palmer waddled out of the room, never once looking back to see if Cid was actually following him.  
  
Cid rolled his eyes as stood up. "Does he want to me fetch and roll over too?" Sephiroth shrugged, and though he wasn't smiling, his green eyes again had an amused light in them. With a negligent wave Cid turned and followed Palmer towards the elevator as Sephiroth turned and strode into the President's office.  
  
Several hours later a much more tired and edgy Sephiroth left the President's office. Since he wasn't due for a check up this visit he planned to go back to the barracks and get some sleep. Dealing with the President was always a draining experience when you weren't there to kiss his ass. Big egos were always so tough to be around because they didn't leave room for much of anything else, especially common sense. And few egos came bigger than President ShinRa's.  
  
Sephiroth was surprised to see a figure dressed in a pair of faded blue jeans, a button up white shirt and a grease stained jean jacket standing near the elevator with a cigarette between their lips. Upon closer inspection he realized that it was none other than Cid Highwind. The man definitely seemed more comfortable in this attire than he had in that suit. The dull thumping of Sephiroth's boots caused him to look up. When he realized that the approaching person was Sephiroth, Cid straightened himself, scratching his head slightly.  
  
Sephiroth paused in front of him, his long black coat rustling slightly in the stillness. The two regarded each other calmly, perhaps even a bit warily. In the end, it was Cid who broke the silence. "Meeting go well?"  
  
Sephiroth's answer was a shrug of broad shoulders. "It went as well as they usually go."  
  
"That good huh?" Cid took the cigarette out from between his lips, absently running a hand through the disheveled blonde hair. "Well you want to go get a drink then? I heard of a good bar down in Seventh Sector. A bit seedy but I kinda doubt that you'll really mind." For some unknown reason, the idea appealed to Sephiroth. Maybe it was the stress from meeting with the President, or the prospect of another night in his quarters reading through an endless stack of reports, but the idea of going into town with the man and having a couple of drinks seemed rather tempting.  
  
There were very few people that Sephiroth got to interact with on a social level. Most were either attracted to the power he held as the general of SOLDIER, and the benefits they thought they would get from being in his good graces. His men feared and respected him, which was how it should be, but it also meant few tried to honestly get to know the person and not the commander. And lastly there was the endless parade of women (and men too) who only wanted his body and the ability to say they 'scored' with the great Sephiroth.  
  
Yet he didn't detect anything like that from Highwind. The man seemed to be showing a genuine interest in having a friendly drink with someone who shared similar feelings and somewhat similar experiences. The idea was simple in it's simplicity, and so Sephiroth agreed and found himself sitting on a barstool in the middle of the Sector Seven slums, drinking scotch that could probably degrease an engine, as Cid had so colorfully put it. 


End file.
